Coupled Instabilities In Metal Structures

The aim of the book is to fill up the gaps between theoretical, numerical, and practical design approaches in the field of coupled instabilities of metal structures. The book is organized in a way leading progressively from the mathematical basic theories to the design aspects through numerical and semi-empirical approaches of the interactive buckling of metal structures. Optimum design account taken of coupled instabilities and code aspects are also briefly covered.

Since the early 1960s, coupled instabilities — also called compound buckling, simultaneous buckling or interactive buckling — have been a topic that was studied by many researchers. However, despite some excellent theoretical works in this field, the relevant subject is not yet satisfactorily considered in modern design codes for metal structures. To fill up this gap and to improve the current situation, a series of International Conferences 'Coupled Instabilities in Metal Structures' was launched in 1992 with the main aim of encouraging an exchange of views between researchers and engineers on the various aspects of coupled instabilities. The success of the first conference, held at Timisoara (Romania) in 1992, and organized by Professors D Dubina & V Gioncu (Politechnica University of Timisoara) and J Rondal (Univ. of Liège), has encouraged the organization of a second conference, to be held in Liège (Belgium) during September 5-7, 1996. A third conference is still forecast for the year 2000.

The subject of coupled instabilities is a fascinating field of research with a wide range of practical applications, particularly in the analysis and design of metal structures. Despite the excellent body of existing results concerning coupled instability structural behaviour, this situation has not yet been adequately translated into design rules or specifications. In fact, only to a small extent do modern design codes for metal structures take advantage of the significant progress made in the field. This book, which contains all the invited general reports and selected papers presented at the Third International Conference on "Coupled Instabilities in Metal Structures". (CIMS '2000), should provide a meaningful contribution towards filling the gap between research and practice.